JANE SESKIN’S NEW POETRY COLLECTION

Jane Seskin Introduces a New Poetry Collection

Jane and I met as writers-in-residence at Noepe Center for Literary Arts in Edgartown, Massachusetts, in October 2014, which spurred the first interview in December of the same year.

Since then, the readers of reneejohnsonwrites.com have gotten to know your poetry and notecards through your collection on intimate violence in Witness to Resilience and the first volume of Older, Wiser, Shorter in 2019 with 63 poems on life after age sixty-five.

“Even though I’m not a fan of poetry, I found Jane Seskin’s poems to be a delight. They hit home.”

—Jane Brody, former personal health columnist, New York Times

I spoke with Jane earlier this month regarding this release, her inspiration, advice, process, takeaway, and final thoughts.

Inspiration:

Renee: This month you will release a revision, or second edition to Older, Wiser, Shorter, with a whopping 89 poems on the truth and humor of navigating life beyond age sixty-five. What inspired you to add to this collection?

Jane Seskin:

The first independently published edition was out in 2019. During the years (and through the Pandemic) I continued to poem as a witness to my aging self. Tallfellow Press published my first book of poems in 1974! I was in touch with them over the years, and they did 2 additional books of mine.

Last year I sent them a copy of Older Wiser Shorter. They were very enthusiastic and were willing to do a complete revision with new cover, subtitle, interiors, Vows, and 26 new poems. I wanted to add to this collection because of all the messages I received saying “You live in my head!” I knew my personal was universal.  It was just not being said!

Advice:

Renee: Throughout your collection, resilience and acceptance of the aging process are common threads. This is delightful in our world of anti-aging products and a culture of youthful beauty. What is your best piece of advice to readers on how to find these threads within themselves?

Jane Seskin:

Discover what comforts you and surround yourself with those people, foods, and activities that nourish. Be kind and patient with yourself and others. Hold a positive outlook on your aging and focus on what you can do, not on what you can’t. Seek out people for connection, for community and engage with the world outside your door. Be open to new ideas.  Look for things that promote laughter. Notate daily moments that make your heart sing. Know this is the only life you have – Embrace! Enjoy!

Process:

Renee: Your poems are often humorous or leave the reader with a fist in the gut. How long does it normally take for you to arrange a handful of words into something so meaningful?

Jane Seskin:

What a great question!  And the answer is: it depends. Sometimes I will get an idea or image and the poem will flow through me in one sit-down. More common is when the idea presents itself and I will begin writing and play with it over a couple of days; adding, subtracting words, reciting the lines out loud, lining them up differently. Then I’ll put them in a folder to marinate. Come back to the poem and see if it still rings true. This year I learned my average work on a poem is 10 edits.

The takeaway:

Renee: What do you hope people will take away from reading your poems on aging?

Jane Seskin:

I hope people will have discussions on aging with their friends and families and share what troubles them about getting older.  When it’s out in the open they can find remedies to cope with the discomfort. I’d like us all to speak up when someone makes a comment that is ageist. And I hope we celebrate in small or large fashion all the days of our lives.

Final thoughts:

Renee: Is there anything you’d like to add for the readers? Something we might not know about you or your work?

Jane Seskin:

I love what I do. I enjoy the making of poems. I enjoy working out my life through words. And I am extraordinarily grateful.

Renee: Thank you, Jane. Your work is not only beautiful but meaningful.

“You don’t need to be at a late stage of life to appreciate and learn from Seskin’s energetic collection of poems…We are blessed to have work such as this to help us see our way gracefully.”

—Justen Ahren, Martha’s Vineyard Poet Laureate
and author of Devotion to Writing

New poetry collection redefines aging with humor, authenticity

New York, NY – In a world where aging is often feared, award-nominated author, poet and psychotherapist Jane Seskin takes readers on an emotional road trip where they can celebrate the joys and challenges of aging . In “Older, Wiser, Shorter: The Truth and Humor of Life After 65” (Tallfellow Press, August 21, 2024), Jane Seskin reflects on how resilience and self-discovery helped her combat life’s trials and tribulations, especially as she grew older. Through a collection of 89 poems, Seskin redefines the narrative of aging and offers readers a positive take on what is often perceived as a negative.

“Older, Wiser, Shorter” is an insightful collection of poetry; authentic, funny, quirky and heartfelt, acknowledging the physical vulnerabilities, emotional losses, and surprises people encounter in their  senior years. Seskin also pays tribute to  the sense of power, resilience and new-found joys people discover as they acknowledge and accept their aging. Seskin’s talent for finding the universal connecting tissue of even our most intimate moments will resonate with readers seeking to discover new ways to honor the past, celebrate the present, and welcome the future.

Growing old is a gift. Believe in it. Respect it. Embrace it. From varicose veins to doctors’ appointments to forgetting why you walked into the kitchen, “Older Wiser Shorter” illuminates the ups and downs of growing older, one poem at a time. Not to be feared but welcomed, aging is natural, exciting, and it’s better than the alternative!

“Jane Seskin’s poems take us into her world and shed new light on our own. An important book for older women and those who care for and about them.”

—Ann Burack-Weiss, PH.D, LCSW, author of The Lioness in Winter:
Writing an Old Woman’s Lif

“Optimistic”

by Jane Seskin from “Older, Wiser, Shorter”

Last week

I ordered

one thousand sheets

of personalized

note paper.

Get your copy of Older, Wiser, Shorter by Jane Seskin here.

Jane Seskin is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the author of 13 books (most recently the poetry collection “Older, Wiser, Shorter: The Truth and Humor of Life After 65”.)  She’s also written nonfiction articles and poetry online and for national magazines and journals (20 poems published in Cosmopolitan Magazine, five poems in Woman’s Day. Eighteen of her posts have been published in the Metropolitan Diary column in the New York Times.) Jane has been a writer-in-residence at the Vermont Studio Center and Noepe Center for Literary Arts. She has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Ms. Seskin is a practicing psychotherapist, who counseled survivors in individual and group treatment at the Crime Victims Treatment Center in New York for 20 years.

In her free time, she enjoys the theater, walking by the Hudson River, visiting with friends, reading poetry and mysteries (Louise Penny, David Baldacci, Donna Leon) and listening to jazz (Keith Jarrett, Houston Person, Chris Botti). Give her a piece of bread and butter and she’s a happy camper! Jane wrote therapeutic sound-bites on Twitter under the title: “Emotional Band-Aid. Small Steps for Change.” Find out more about her at her website.

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About Renee Johnson

Renee Canter Johnson was born in North Carolina, where she still resides. She has a BS in Business Management from Gardner Webb University. Johnson studied Creative Writing in France and Italy, was awarded two terms at Noepe Center for Literary Arts on Martha’s Vineyard, and completed a Novel Intensive Study at the University of Iowa. Johnson loves spending time with her family and fur babies, and when she is not with them, you will find her reading or writing.

Join her at reneejohnsonwrites.com for insights on travel destinations, books, authors, and living a creative life.

Published author with The Wild Rose Press, blogger, and lifelong voracious reader, with the belief that novels conquered the world of virtual reality long before technology made it possible. The next adventure is just a click away!